Cambridge boss Mark Bonner has told his table-topping side to enjoy the ride and see where it takes them after a 3-0 win at Mansfield kept them at the summit of League Two.

Paul Mullin took his league goals tally to 22 with a second-half brace inside eight minutes before Harvey Knibbs hit a late third.

Bonner said: “We are on an adventure. We are enjoying where we are and the situation we find ourselves in. The shackles are off – attack it and have a go – why not?

“In some sense there’s no real pressure on us. We just need to enjoy it and see how long we can go for.

“You can’t hide behind the fact that the table is the table now. We know we are nearing the back end of the season.

“Where we end up this season will be dictated by our results. In the end it’s a waste of energy worrying about the other sides up there.

“The table will chop and change – we know that. Teams have games in hand and some will catch us up. We have to try to stay there as long as we can by our own results.”

On the win over Mansfield, he added: “It was everything we needed it to be.

“We knew we’d have to defend for periods of the game against a good side and we played some really good football on a tricky surface.

“We felt that as the game wore on we might be able to take advantage of the busy week Mansfield had had and we have probably played them at the right time.”

Home goalkeeper Aidan Stone did well to deny Wes Hoolahan at his near post from Greg Taylor’s cross in a tight first half.

But Mullin struck after 57 minutes, turning in a left wing cross by Harrison Dunk, and soon aftersomehow squeezed in an almost impossible finish from the left byline.

Sub Knibbs drove home the third under Stone’s dive a minute into stoppage time.

Stags manager Nigel Clough said: “I don’t think the scoreline reflected the nature of the game.

“But it probably reflected why Cambridge are where they are at the top of the league.

“There was nothing in the game and then they can suddenly come out of it 3-0 winners. They showed a ruthless streak we didn’t have today.

“I think the effort we put in on Wednesday night against Bolton caught up with us. The goals knocked the stuffing out of us.

“We talked about this game being a good measure for us and there wasn’t much between the two teams.

“I thought it was a very good League Two game with two sides trying to knock it about on a difficult surface.

“We know we are not too far off the standard Cambridge are setting.”